Flourishing Creativity & Literacy - A Group of Indonesian Adult EFL Students’Mastery of Tenses and Aspects - Investigating the Internal and External Factors of Learning

Oct 15, 2026

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The study aimed, firstly, to assess Indonesian adult EFL students’ mastery of tenses and aspects as part of English grammar competence, and secondly, to determine whether instructional experience, students’ perceptions, and study habits influenced that mastery. Data were collected through a grammar test and semi-structured interviews with students in their fourth (final) year. Despite long instructional exposure, most students remained in the “fail” category, and perceiving grammar study as important did not improve mastery. Habits, instructional modes, and classroom language samples proved more influential.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Grammatical competence and its role in language learning

Classroom reliance and communicative teaching approaches

Importance of tenses and aspects for English grammar mastery

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 Vol. 6 No. 5; October 2015 Australian International Academic Centre, Australia Flourishing Creativity & Literacy A Group of Indonesian Adult EFL Students’Mastery of Tenses and Aspects: Investigating the Internal and External Factors of Learning Muhlisin (Corresponding author) Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Muhammadiyah Jember, Jl. Karimata No 49, Jember, East Java, Indonesia [E-mail: muhlisin@unmuhjember.ac.id](E-mail: muhlisin@unmuhjember.ac.id) Hairus Salikin English Department, Faculty of Letters, University of Jember Jl. Kalimantan 37, Jember, Jember, East Java, Indonesia [E-mail: hairussalikin@yahoo.com](E-mail: hairussalikin@yahoo.com) Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.5p. 143 Received: 08/05/2015 URL: [http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.5p.143](http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.5p.143) Accepted: 25/07/2015 The study was supported and fully funded by University of Muhammadiyah Jember. Abstract The study aimed, firstly, to assess a group of Indonesian adult EFL students ’mastery of tenses and aspects as part of their mastery of English grammar and, secondly, to identify if their experience of going through the instructional processes, their perceptions of and habits in studying English grammar shaped their mastery of tenses and aspects. The data were collected through a grammar test and a semi-structured interview. As the study was conducted, the students were sitting in the fourth (last) year of their study. Despite having such long instructional experience, however, the findings show that the mastery of tenses and aspects of majority of the students still fell into the “fail” category. Also, their having perception that studying English grammar is important apparently did not shape their mastery oftenses and aspects. What seemed influential as to shaping their mastery was much more related to their habits in studying, the modes of instruction they experienced, and the type of language samples they were exposed to, especially during the process of receiving grammar instruction in the classroom. Keywords: grammatical competence, mastery oftenses and aspects, English as a foreign language 1. Introduction Grammatical competence constitutes one of the four competences which support the development of communicative competence in learning a second and foreign language (Canale & Swain, 1980; Canale, 1983) . The other kinds of competence, according to Canale and Swain (1980) and Canale (1983), include sociolinguistic, strategic, and discourse competence. Hence, developing grammatical competence is important for both second and foreign language learners, for such competence can help them develop skills in using the target language more fully. In regard to speaking and writing skills, for instance, grammatical competence enables the learners to construct words into meaningful sentences or utterances. Meanwhile, in regard to listening and reading skills, grammatical competence enables the learners to decode sentences or utterances. The main aim of teaching and learning grammar, therefore, should be to help the learners understand and use the target language accurately and appropriately in communicative contexts. Where foreign language teaching and learning are concerned, the development of grammatical competence of the learners seems to have strong reliance on the classroom teaching and learning process. From the teaching perspective, in order that foreign language learners develop their grammatical competence in the target language, the easier and probably also the more effective way would be by teaching grammatical structures of the target language in a set of communicative discourse. Meanwhile, from the learning perspective, in order that the learners are able to develop grammatical competence, they need to be attentive to what is taught by the teacher and to also actively engage in learning activit

FAQs

What aspects of English grammar did the study focus on for Indonesian adult EFL students?

The study focused on students’ mastery of tenses and aspects as core components of English grammar competence.

How were data collected to evaluate mastery and influencing factors?

A grammar test measured mastery, and semi-structured interviews collected information about students’ experience, perceptions, and study habits.

Did students’ perception that grammar study is important affect their mastery of tenses and aspects?

No. Students’ belief that grammar study is important did not shape their mastery of tenses and aspects.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Terk